Agriculture

Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy. Labor participation and livelihood of majority of population directly or indirectly depends upon agriculture. District Vehari has a rich agricultural history. A brief agricultural profile of the district is as follows:

Land Utilization

Area and Production of Major Crops

Area of Kharif Crops (acres)

Production of Kharif Crops (Bales)

Area of Rabi Crops (acres)

Production of Rabi Crops (Bales)

Agro Based Industry

110 cotton ginning industries are present in district Vehari out of which 22 factories worked during current season. 112,678 bales are received during current year whereas, 188,485 bales during previous year. A decrease of 40% has been observed in cotton arrival during current year mainly due to decrease in cotton area.

Working of Agriculture Department

Major activities by the Agriculture Department in District Vehari are as follows:

Anti-Adulteration Campaign for Agricultural Inputs

Provision of quality inputs to the farming community is the utmost preference of the Agriculture department and all possible efforts are made to ensure the uninterrupted supply of the quality fertilizers and pesticides. For this purpose, teams of Agriculture Extension Wing and Pest Warning Wing regularly check fertilizer and pesticide dealer shops and conduct random sampling. If any malpractice is observed, immediate legal action is taken. The progress of fertilizer and pesticide sampling during 2020 by different wings of Agriculture department is as below:

Farmer Training Programs

Dissemination of the proper production technology of major and minor crops to the farming community is another important activity being performed by the Agriculture Extension Department. For this purpose, 22 teams are constituted and they are imparting training as per schedule attached below:

Activities under National Project on Enhancing Profitability

A project for enhancing the productivity of wheat crop is being run in District Vehari. Different activities were performed under the project during 2019 - 20. The details are given below:

• 4,250 bags of certified seeds were distributed among the farming community by Agriculture Department
• 103 demonstration plots were laid out for dissemination of proper production technology to farming community
• 57 farmers were declared winner for the provision of agro-implements on 50% subsidy
• Farmer gathering was held on Jan 25, 2020 for awareness of farming community
• Wheat yield competition was held for encouragement of farming community

Activities under National Oilseeds Enhancement Program

A project for enhancing oilseeds crops is being run in District Vehari. Different activities were performed under the project during 2019 - 20. The details are as under:

• Provision of Rs. 5,000 subsidy on sowing of canola and sunflower crops
• 4 Demonstration plots were laid out for dissemination of proper production technology of canola and sunflower to farming community
• Canola and sunflower yield competitions were held for encouragement of farming community

Soil and Water Sampling

Field staff of the Agriculture Extension Department is conducting sampling of soil and tube well water for guidance of farming community. These samples are analyzed by the Soil and Water Testing Laboratory, Vehari. The details of soil and water samples drawn in 2020 are as follows:

Biological Control of Insect Pest

Injudicious use of the pesticides in the agriculture sector is resulting not only in pesticide resistance but also degrading environment. For this purpose, the Agriculture Extension Department is rearing beneficial insects and providing them to the farmer community. The production and distribution status of bio control cards during 2020 was as follows:

Farmer Advisory Services at Plant Clinics

Agriculture Extension Department in collaboration with the CABI Pakistan is running 24 Plant Clinics across the districts where farmers visit and get guidance from the agricultural experts. The Plant Clinics are established on weekly basis at prominent places; easily accessible by the farming community. 1,250 Plant Clinics were held across the district in 2020 providing advisory service to 6,250 farmers.

Locust Control Activities

In 2020, serious threat to the agriculture was caused by the locust attack. However, the timely and effective measures taken by the Agriculture Extension and Pest Warning Wing under supervision of district management helped in managing locust in best possible way. The teams of the Agriculture Department worked round the clock to combat locust attack. 196 hectares were sprayed by using power sprayers and vehicle mounted sprayers. The crop damage was observed on 2,775 acres in district Vehari.

Smog Mitigation Activities

In recent years, smog has emerged as another serious threat to environment and human health. Burning of the rice crop residues is one of the major causes of smog. PDMA has imposed ban on burning of any sort of crop residues. Agriculture Extension Department created awareness among the farming community through village level farmer training programs and mosque announcements. Strict legal action was taken against the people involved in burning of crop residues and 61 police complaints were filed for registration of FIRs.

Provision of Subsidies on Oilseeds Crops and Agricultural Inputs

The farmers were provided subsidies on sowing of oilseeds crops at Rs. 5,000 per acre. Similarly, the subsidies were also provided on fertilizer products. In order to ensure the provision of subsidies to farming community only, the system of farmer’s verification was launched by the Agriculture Department. During current year, 141 farmers for canola, 257 farmers for sunflower, and 1,727 farmers for fertilizers were verified for subsidy during current year.

Promotion of Kitchen Gardening

Growing of vegetables at domestic level is the need of the hour as it is not only the source of healthy food but also saves expenses. The Agriculture Department is promoting kitchen gardening through the provision of good quality seeds and laying out of demonstration plots. 1,300 seed kits during summer season and 2,700 seed kits during winter season were provided on subsidy in 2020 for promotion of kitchen gardening.

Injudicious use of the pesticides in the agriculture sector is resulting not only in pesticide resistance but also degrading environment. For this purpose, the Agriculture Extension Department is rearing beneficial insects and providing them to the farmer community.